Article on D.A. & some interesting quotes from DW: Pacers almost traded Saras

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For a league that really didn't want Darrell Armstrong in the first place, it sure is having trouble saying goodbye.

The NBA doesn't want him to leave. And with good reason.

Armstrong, 38, defied the odds again by signing another one-year contract for more than $1 million earlier this month, allowing the Dallas Mavericks to trade him to the Indiana Pacers.

This will be his 13th year in the league, proving again that you don't have to be John Stockton or Gary Payton -- forever all-stars -- to last a long time playing point guard. He may have lost his quickness, but he never was all that quick to begin with. It's the tenacity, the basketball know-how, and the willingness to sacrifice for whatever team he is on, that has made him so valuable.

"I don't know how much he'll play, but he's the type of guy when you put him in, good things usually happen," said Indiana Coach Rick Carlisle last week. "His experience is invaluable.''

Armstrong didn't reach the NBA until he was 26, not until he spent four years at tiny Fayetteville (N.C.) State, then at least one season in the Global Basketball Association, the United States Basketball League, the Continental Basketball League, Cyprus and Spain, before finally finding a home with the Orlando Magic.

It was here that the NBA finally took notice, watching him carve his niche in the post-Shaq era, becoming one of the most popular players in franchise history.

It wasn't that he was so good -- because he never really was -- it was just that he played so hard every night. He played hurt. He played sick. He played bruised and battered, and people noticed.

"When we signed him, [former Magic coach] Chuck Daly called just to tell me what a great pickup it was for us. All he talked about was Darrell's heart, and the way he hustled," Carlisle said. "He said he was the best locker room guy he ever had."

Armstrong spent nine seasons with the Magic before they opted not to re-sign him, leaving him for New Orleans to snag for much the same reason that Indiana wanted him. The Hornets later traded him to Dallas, which wanted a reliable backup. It may have been Armstrong you saw in the NBA Finals last month, often leaping off the bench to wave his towel and cheer on his younger teammates.

"In this league, good chemistry is essential to winning," Carlisle said. "So many factors are pretty consistent. The difference in talent from team to team, in many cases, is negligible. Many cases, it comes down to which group of guys are more tied together. We're firm believers in that. And we're taking steps to shore up that aspect of the team.''

Armstrong was the fourth oldest player in the league last season, trailing only Dikembe Mutombo, Cliff Robinson and Ervin Johnson, all frontcourt players. It's really unusual for a little guard to last this long.

"I can't play as many minutes as I used to in Orlando, but I can still pick up a guy and defensively hound him for 94 feet, make him do things he doesn't want to do," Armstrong said. "I'll just play hard, practice hard, and hopefully teach the young guys how to play the game, just by example."

Armstrong said this probably would be his last year, unless of course someone offers him another contract.

"I've always loved going to work," Armstrong said. "Maybe that's why I play the way I do.''

Charity work

Armstrong, Carlisle, Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge, Byron Scott and Wally Szczerbiak all were in town last week to play golf for two purposes. First they played in the Big Break All-Star Challenge, which will be aired on The Golf Channel Aug. 29.

But more importantly for most of them was the annual golfing fundraiser the next day for Shepherd's Hope, the local organization that helps provide access to health care for the uninsured in Central Florida.

"The number of uninsured people in this area has skyrocketed. The problem is growing rapidly, and it's alarming," said Cindi Kopelman, president of Shepherd's Hope who first enlisted Rivers support. "That's why Doc has been so great for us and what we do."

Rivers, now coaching in Boston, brought Ainge, his general manager, and Szczerbiak, his forward, to help him this year in Central Florida.

Rivers, who plays golf as often as time allows, struggled during the putting part of The Challenge. He missed three consecutive easy putts, prompting a laugh from professional golfer Scott Hoch.

"The good news, Doc, is that there still is plenty of room left in that hole," Hoch said.

Around the Rim

According to those close to discussions involving the proposed new arena for Central Florida, which will be used by the Magic, there is nothing certain about the facility being in downtown Orlando. There are rumblings now that it could end up on the tourist side of town, possibly near the Orange County Convention Center.

Dee Brown, who played in both Boston and Orlando during his career, has opened EDGE (Elite Development Growth Environment), a basketball facility in Southwest Orlando to help players of all ages develop their skills. He is using a motion analysis system like golfers have used for years. "I'm competing with Jerry Rice now to become the former-athlete-on-the-most-reality-TV shows leader,'" Brown said.

You don't often think of Switzerland when it comes to basketball, but that's where Magic assistant coach Tom Sterner was last week as part of a basketball camp for the seventh time in the last 10 years. "The biggest sports here are football (soccer), team handball and probably skiing," Sterner said. "But in the years I've been coming, the basketball has improved tremendously."

The Magic lost a loyal fan last week in Lake Mary/Sanford when Kim Reynolds, 43, lost her battle with cancer. During the Magic's early years, she used to decorate her Christmas tree with a Magic theme, with homemade ornaments that included pictures of her favorites like Armstrong, Nick Anderson and Shaquille O'Neal. She even had an ornament with the goggles that Horace Grant used to wear. As caring as she was, just a month ago, she called to ask if someone -- anyone -- with the Magic could autograph a basketball, so she could give it to her elderly grandmother. "She likes anything Magic just like me," Reynolds said.

A Final Thought: There could be a few deals in the works as teams look to solidify their rosters.

"In this league, good chemistry is essential to winning," Carlisle said. "So many factors are pretty consistent. The difference in talent from team to team, in many cases, is negligible. Many cases, it comes down to which group of guys are more tied together. We're firm believers in that. And we're taking steps to shore up that aspect of the team.''

One person in this failed romance between the Celtics and Sixers can honestly say he is relieved.

Though Allen Iverson’s trademark petulance will probably settle in once the perennial All-Star realizes how close he came to leaving his NBA home, for now he is giving thanks.

“We have never been more excited,” Gary Moore, one of Iverson’s handlers, told the Philadelphia Daily News last week after Sixers general manager Billy King finally called off the search for a big, franchise-changing deal. “Allen wasn’t as surprised as he was relieved. He always wanted to be in Philadelphia, but he felt he deserved better as far as communication.”

Sixers management will eventually pay for that faux pas.

But left in the dust of this unrequited deal are two franchises that haven’t addressed some glaring needs.

For the Sixers, the problem is continued stagnation. They remain, at best, an eighth-seed playoff team that can’t get better as long as Iverson dominates the ball. And there wasn’t a good enough star available to replace him in a max-for-max contract deal.

Considering that Iverson just turned 31, his time is short. His supporting cast isn’t nearly good enough. Andre Iguodala is a dunk-first guy and Samuel Dalembert and Kyle Korver are strictly specialists.

Randy Foye would have made a difference, but if that draft night deal had been finalized, the Sixers would also be adding the 6-foot-4 scorer without Iverson in place.cw0cw0

The pairing of Iverson and Paul Pierce - albeit minus Wally Szczerbiak - would have given the Celtics their best shot of returning to the Eastern Conference finals since 2001-02. Even with the deal, they weren’t going further, minus blind luck.

Though Pierce may now feel that he is very much in Iverson’s boat, the Celtics’ broader youth base gives the Celtics captain a marginally brighter outlook.

The fact remains, however, that Danny Ainge’s primary goal was to secure veteran help for Pierce this summer.

It could still happen, though as of last week the Celtics director of basketball operations admitted that the marketplace was “very quiet.”

As one league personnel boss recently noted, “what (the Celtics) have found out is that other teams don’t think as highly of the young guys as (they) do.”

Come October, they may have to make that “gotta love the young guys” pitch once again.

Without some additional veteran assistance, it’s guaranteed to get older than their talent.

Hard to keep Pace

Anthony Johnson is packed off to Dallas for one player (Darrell Armstrong) who is a year removed from retirement and two youngsters who could be cut before training camp.

Mr. Hops, Fred Jones, is allowed to sign with Toronto. Peja Stojakovic is wooed away by the Hornets.

Hawks free agent Al Harrington must have been counting his raises with each move. As of Friday, Indiana was ready to bring back its former scoring forward back into the fold via a sign-and-trade deal with Atlanta, with a $7.5 million trade exception secured through the Stajakovic signing an important element.

Hawks GM Billy Knight, who moves at glacial speed, appears to be most concerned about maintaining cap flexibility. Atlanta’s warring ownership group, with Brookline businessman Steve Belkin fighting his partners in court for control of the team, aren’t anxious to take on extra payroll, especially of the maximum contract variety after last year’s Joe Johnson business.

But the Pacers had better hope that this business is near completion.

Now that they have carved out the space to accommodate Harrington’s impending deal, they can’t settle for less.

It’s a long fall from mid-playoff seed to lottery fodder.

Out of his element

Starbucks mogul Howard Schultz may be a rock star in business, but the former Sonics owner never quite developed a touch for ownership of a sports franchise.

Schultz finally sold his financially embattled franchise to a group headed by Oklahoma businessman Clay Bennett last week, but from a locker room perspective, Schultz’ departure barely registered.

Schultz’ interest started to taper once the team started losing, though he was famous for his prominent mid-court seats.

At least that’s the way his spectral presence affected his best player, Ray Allen.

“I haven’t had a conversation with Howard in a long time,” the veteran guard said. “I haven’t been informed about anything going on with this whole situation.

“Up until (last week’s press conference), I didn’t know what was going on until it went down. The rest of the players, everybody was in the dark.cw0

“Howard was probably the biggest fan we have, and that could be good and bad. I don’t have a negative word to say about Howard. He was very visible at games, and if anything, I just wish there was more of that behind the scenes.”

Seattle now has good reason to be worried about Bennett, though. Schultz’ old cry - the need for a new arena - has been picked up by Bennett, who has threatened to move the team to Oklahoma City if a new facility isn’t built.

Hornets owner George Shinn, who has been quietly trying to steer his own franchise out of New Orleans and back to Oklahoma City once and for all, must also be wincing at Bennett’s threat.

A wounded ’Wolf

Bad karma continues to swirl around Kevin McHale.

Bill Neff, the agent for Minnesota guard Troy Hudson, said his injured client is refusing to work out in front of the Timberwolves training staff because of “mistrust.”

Hudson believes that the team’s training staff rushed him back from injury twice over the last two seasons, with damaging results that have led to lingering ankle problems.

Pacers are shuffling deck
Indiana taking team in a new direction
By Peter May | July 30, 2006

On Thursday, the Indiana Pacers did not make a deal. That almost constitutes news these days.

``I feel punch-drunk from all the contracts we've done and deals we've made," said Pacers president Donnie Walsh.

Indiana has traded Peja Stojakovic to New Orleans/Oklahoma City July 12 for, basically, a $7.5 million trade exception it hopes to use to bag Al Harrington in a sign-and-trade deal with Atlanta. It traded Austin Croshere to the Mavericks for Marquis Daniels the same day . Last Monday, the Pacers traded Anthony Johnson, last seen scoring 40 points in a playoff series-ending loss to New Jersey, to Dallas for Darrell Armstrong and two others. It lost Fred Jones to free agency (Toronto) Wednesday . It bagged a couple of promising kids in the draft. It signed Maceo Baston, who has extensive international experience, Friday.

What does it all mean?

``It means we weren't pleased with the team last year so we decided to change it," Walsh said. ``We're going to change our style and try to have a different kind of team, more athletic, one that plays up-tempo. And we wanted to change the makeup."

The Stojakovic loss was viewed as a big one, given the team had traded Ron Artest for the Serbian sharpshooter. But the Pacers could get Harrington instead, which would make the thing easier to swallow, and they had a reason for not re-signing Stojakovic to a rich, long-term deal (he ended up getting $62.64 million from the Hornets over five years).

``I had made up my mind on Peja," Walsh said. ``We would have had to commit to five or six years with him and it was going to tie us up financially, giving us very little flexibility. And, in the end, we'd still have the same team. That's why we decided not to do it."

Johnson was moved to free up the logjam at point guard. Walsh said the three candidates -- Jamaal Tinsley, Johnson, and Sarunas Jasikevicius -- all felt like they should be playing. Johnson was the most marketable because Tinsley is an annual first-teamer on the All-Injury Squad (112 games missed over the last three years) and no one quite knows yet what to make of Jasikevicius. Former Celtic Orien Greene also has signed with Indy, although he did not play in the Pacers' recent summer league.

With the arrival of Daniels, Walsh withdrew his offer to Jones, making Jones an unrestricted free agent. (Teams make offers to restricted free agents, which Jones had been, to keep matching rights.) All in all, there are eight new names on the Indiana roster, including draftees Shawne Williams and James White.

``There is some youth, but it will be coming off the bench, which I like," Walsh said.

The Pacers executive also addressed a few other issues.

Jermaine O'Neal's status: ``We're not going to trade Jermaine," Walsh said. ``There are only a few players you would even consider [trading O'Neal for]. Big is big. Big and athletic is even better. Jermaine has been here [at the Pacers' workout site] every day and is working his tail off. He said he would do that and he's doing it."

Rick Carlisle's status: ``We're going to give him the security," Walsh said. ``I think he has earned that." Carlisle is going into the final year of his contract and, these days, anyway, coaches don't like to do that because it makes them appear to be lame ducks. Walsh thinks that's rubbish: ``Back when I coached [briefly, in the 1970s], if you had a year left, you coached that year or the owner would tell you to [leave]. But I understand it's different now. We'll get to this once we've finished [the personnel moves]." Carlisle drew some heat for being too rigid with the Indiana offense. You can be sure that the Pacers will want him to loosen things up with their new cast of characters.

Jasikevicius: He was considered to be a marquee signing last year but struggled in making the transition from international basketball (most recently at Maccabi Tel Aviv, where Baston was a teammate) to the NBA. Walsh said he almost traded Jasikevicius recently but decided not to do the deal once he found a home for Johnson. ``I don't think he showed what he can really do last year," Walsh said. ``That's because we usually walked the ball up the floor. I think up-tempo is more his kind of game. We'll see."

Good friend Larry Brown: ``I told him when I saw him in Orlando [at the pre-draft camp] to take a year off, get yourself straightened out, and soon they'll be lining up outside your door to have you come and be their coach."

For sale: Philadelphia 76ers

One of the league's true flagship franchises may be available.

According to a usually well informed NBA source, the Philadelphia 76ers are for sale.

The 76ers are owned by Comcast Spectacor, which also owns the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, an American Hockey League team, three minor league affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles, the Wachovia Center (home of the Sixers) and the adjacent Spectrum (former home of the Sixers), and a regional 24-hour sports programming network.

Another NBA source indicated many of the current employees believe a sale is on the way, although with confidentiality agreements, these things are often hard to nail down.

The Sixers' announced attendance was down about 7.5 percent last season and the Allen Iverson-Chris Webber marriage seems to be working about as well as the Julia Roberts-Lyle Lovett union did.

Ed Snider, who founded the Flyers in 1966, is Comcast Spectacor's chairman and chairman of the Sixers.

The Sixers referred queries to Comcast Spectacor, where president Peter Luukko said through a spokesman via e-mail, ``We receive expressions of interest from time to time.

``No one has made us an offer and we're not actively selling the team."

Will he elect to be Charles in charge?

If you want to get first dibs at potential Alabama gubernatorial hopeful Charles Barkley, your day has come.

Barkley, who will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in September, will be at the Hall in Springfield Wednesday to speak on a variety of topics and then take questions from the audience.

Sir Charles is pushing his new book, ``Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?" According to the Hall, the book is a ``candid collection of 13 interviews by Barkley with prominent Americans like Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Tiger Woods, Morgan Freeman, and comedian George Lopez on the subject of race."

Barkley has talked in the past of entering politics in his native state, but previously he had said he would do so as a Republican. He says now he has changed his affiliation to the Democratic party because the Republicans ``have lost their minds."

Barkley said he believes he was put on earth to do more than play basketball and stockpile money. ``I really want to help people improve their lives, and what's left is for me to decide how best to do that."

Etc.

A real kicker
Paul Pierce's new deal, which tops out at $21,513,521 in 2010-11 (his option year), also carries an 8 percent trade kicker. (In 2009-10, he will make only $204,288 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who pockets a cool $20 million.) LeBron James (15 percent), Dwyane Wade (15 percent), and Carmelo Anthony (5 percent) also have trade kickers in their new maximum extensions. Ben Wallace's four-year, $60 million deal with the Bulls starts at $16 million and, in the fourth year, drops to $14 million. Matt Harpring's new deal with the Jazz is for $25 million over four years, but in the final year, Harpring would collect only $2.5 million instead of the negotiated $6.5 million if he is unable to play a certain number of games because of a right knee injury.

Double the threat
Pau Gasol's younger brother, Marc, 21, may join his sibling on the Spanish national team for next month's World Championships in Japan. That would be a first; the two Gasols have never been teammates on the national squad. Marc Gasol, who plays professionally in Spain for FC Barcelona, will be competing for the final spot on the Spanish team with Eduardo Hernandez-Sonseca. The position had been expected to go to Fran Vazquez, last year's Orlando Magic lottery pick, who withdrew with a back injury. The decision should come this week after a Spain-China ``friendly" today in Valencia. Pau Gasol, 26, played a big role on Spain's Olympic team two years ago, which stormed through the preliminary rounds with an undefeated record before losing to the United States in the first game of the medal round.

Arenas on cusp of dream
Fourteen NBA teams are represented by the 15 players still left standing for the US national team that will compete in the World Championships. Which team boasts two candidates? The Washington Wizards, who are represented by Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas. (Phoenix would have had two, as well, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, but Marion's sore knee kept him off the list.) ``It's a big honor -- a dream come true," Arenas said. ``As kids, we all watched the '92 Olympics with Michael Jordan and wanted to be a part of it. Now I've got my chance. One of my biggest dreams growing up was to be an Olympian. I had a poster with Michael Jordan, Magic, Bird, Barkley, Ewing . . . they're leaning over the fence and you can just see their names on their uniforms. I had a Penny Hardaway No. 6 Olympic jersey, a Grant Hill jersey . . . now it's my turn. Someone's going to be wearing my jersey." Maybe. There are still three more ``cuts" coming, although coach Mike Krzyzewski and USA Basketball consigliere Jerry Colangelo don't like to use that word because the players still remain on the roster. Asked what it's like to be ``trying out" for the team, Jamison said: ``I can't remember the last time I had to try out for anything. Here's a situation where this is the biggest stage, but I never doubted myself. There are a lot of big-time guys, like LeBron, but to be put on the stage with the best, and to come out of here as a finalist, is very gratifying for me."

Coach K goes with the flow
Krzyzewski artfully deflected a query last week when he was asked to name a starting five for the Yanks. (Considering how he doesn't even have a final roster yet, that question was a tad ill-timed.) ``There won't be a starting five," Krzyzewski said. ``I think it's important if we're going to play all 12 guys that the player ego of being able to play at your best has got to be high. And designating five guys? I don't know them well enough. One day, I might want to change it. What does that do? I'd rather keep it fluid. We'll have different starting lineups and we would expect that each guy that starts a quarter feels like he's a starter. Everyone's a role player. I don't want them thinking they're the 12th man. I want them thinking that they have USA on the front [of their jersey] and I want to play my butt off." In Athens, Larry Brown went with the same starting five for all eight games: Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Tim Duncan, Lamar Odom, and Richard Jefferson. The team went 5-3. Odom is the only one from that unit on the current roster, but he has pulled out of the current training sessions for personal reasons.

Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.

Nice finds Buck, thx. I support DW and Bird 100% on what they are doing right now. I like up-tempo and believe thats where we need to go.

"He wanted to get to that money time. Time when the hardware was on the table. That's when Roger was going to show up. So all we needed to do was stay close"Darnell Hillman (Speaking of former teammate Roger Brown)

Re: Article on D. Armstrong out of Orlando

Indiana has traded Peja Stojakovic to New Orleans/Oklahoma City July 12 for, basically, a $7.5 million trade exception it hopes to use to bag Al Harrington in a sign-and-trade deal with Atlanta. It traded Austin Croshere to the Mavericks for Marquis Daniels the same day . Last Monday, the Pacers traded Anthony Johnson, last seen scoring 40 points in a playoff series-ending loss to New Jersey, to Dallas for Darrell Armstrong and two others. It lost Fred Jones to free agency (Toronto) Wednesday . It bagged a couple of promising kids in the draft. It signed Maceo Baston, who has extensive international experience, Friday.

What does it all mean?

``It means we weren't pleased with the team last year so we decided to change it," Walsh said. ``We're going to change our style and try to have a different kind of team, more athletic, one that plays up-tempo. And we wanted to change the makeup."

The Stojakovic loss was viewed as a big one, given the team had traded Ron Artest for the Serbian sharpshooter. But the Pacers could get Harrington instead, which would make the thing easier to swallow, and they had a reason for not re-signing Stojakovic to a rich, long-term deal (he ended up getting $62.64 million from the Hornets over five years).

``I had made up my mind on Peja," Walsh said. ``We would have had to commit to five or six years with him and it was going to tie us up financially, giving us very little flexibility. And, in the end, we'd still have the same team. That's why we decided not to do it."

Thanks Buck!!! Great stuff here.

This was what I found most interesting. The Don's comments here make it seem like they never had any interest in Peja being here long-term, even prior to making the deal. I was hoping the whole time that it was a move to dump salary with an expiring contract, while making fans happy by getting a big name and not looking like they were "giving up". Glad that's how it played out.

But...even more promisingly, this shows that The Don & The Legend have been planning to do what they're currently doing for a good six months now. That's a good sign to me--that they're not just making moves to make moves and that they have formulated a clear and concise idea of what they wanted to do by the start of next year. I know that sounds like it should be common sense, but with the GMs in this League and all the reactionary, impulse-driven personnel decisions you see (Bobby Jackson? Tim Thomas? Nene?), it's refreshing to know we're in the hands of people with some sense of long-term planning.

The other thing that this leads me to believe is that Jackson will be part of the change.

And this is also complete speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Rick get his extension right before camp, to send the players a message that this is his/the GMs' team, and if yall don't pick it up, yall will be out of here as quick as Peja/AJ/Austin/Fred/Jackson(hopefully), because we have no problems overhauling this roster if need be.

If Armstrong cant teach Tinsley some maturity and professionalism and how to play with heart then Tinsley is compeltely hopeless....as a human being.

On the other hand, I hope that managment doesn't believe that just by bringing in DA that we will all of a sudden have this mythical legendary "chemistry" that our team needs to win. Jackson and Tinsley still need to go.

This was what I found most interesting. The Don's comments here make it seem like they never had any interest in Peja being here long-term, even prior to making the deal. I was hoping the whole time that it was a move to dump salary with an expiring contract, while making fans happy by getting a big name and not looking like they were "giving up". Glad that's how it played out.

JayRedd, perhaps you missed Walsh's trade window press conference. He said almost these exact same things.

Wasn't happy with last year. Can't settle for just playoffs anymore. Looked at the Peja numbers and with Granger in the picture they didn't want to lock up the payroll and the SF position for 5-6 years.

If you liked this stuff and didn't watch the presser yet, jump over to Pacers.com where I think they still have it. About 20 minutes and all as good as those comments (in terms of indicating their attitude about things).

Because of Walsh's comment about Brown, that he told him to take a year off and people will be lining up for him next year. Combine that with no extension for RC....

However, while I thought the same thing as Kaufman (unless he knows some inside info) Walsh also says he's going to give RC their support and implies that an extention deal will be coming before the start of the season. If that happens then I'll stop worrying about a crap coach coming back to our situation. Unless the Pacers do win the lottery and get Oden, Brown wouldn't make them better. That's his MO, show up just when great talent gets added, take all the credit. See Sheed, David Robinson, Sean Elliot, Antonio Davis...then look at the Knicks. Or look at the Pacers final 2 seasons with him.

Yeah, Larry Brown would be perfect for a team full of young talent. Not! If there's a year to be lottery bound though, '07 wouldn't be so bad at all. That said, I don't see any way the Pacers miss the playoffs.

Because of Walsh's comment about Brown, that he told him to take a year off and people will be lining up for him next year. Combine that with no extension for RC....

However, while I thought the same thing as Kaufman (unless he knows some inside info) Walsh also says he's going to give RC their support and implies that an extention deal will be coming before the start of the season. If that happens then I'll stop worrying about a crap coach coming back to our situation. Unless the Pacers do win the lottery and get Oden, Brown wouldn't make them better. That's his MO, show up just when great talent gets added, take all the credit. See Sheed, David Robinson, Sean Elliot, Antonio Davis...then look at the Knicks. Or look at the Pacers final 2 seasons with him.

No insider info, I just get a hunch that this is a heavy possibility.

And I also want it to happen as well. I don't think there has been any single person other than Larry Brown that has meant more to this franchise and I think he would be a good candidate to take over.

"Sometimes, when you look Andy in the eyes, you get a feeling somebody else is driving." -- David Letterman